Celebration Gone Wrong
by espioc
Summary: Scraps is attempting to throw a celebration for the winter season, but with the use of Ozma's castle and the lack of Ozma's approval, she's having a hard time getting everything right.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello my friends, I have return with another Jack Pumpkinhead fic. This one, unlike my last one, is not entirely concentrated on him, it's more of a group thing. This is the cliché Christmas gone wrong story. Christmas has been introduced in Oz but they're not entirely sure how to do it. The dialog may get a little OOC because a few of the characters I haven't read in a while, so I apologize for anything completely out of the ordinary. On with the show, **

Dorothy was wondering down the Winki country side, looking about the yellow bushes and trees, when she tripped on a stone set right in her path. She'd been looking at a yellow bird when the rock jumped in front of her. She stubbed her toe and stumbled to the ground, scraping her knee on the pebble lined walkway. "Ow." She cried, holding her bloody knee "Oh dear, oh that burns." She mumbled, standing up and going on a search for a Winki home. She hoped that if she found one they'd be kind enough to let her wash out her knee or even wrap it up.

She came across no villages but instead ended up at Jack Pumpkinheads pumpkin patch. She would have much preferred The Tin Woodman's Tin castle, knowing that he kept material in his home to meet the needs of those made of flesh. Seeing as this was a farm, however, Dorothy assumed that he at least had water she could use to rinse the dirt from her wound.

She made her way to the giant hallowed out pumpkin set right in the middle of the patch, dodging pumpkins as she went. When she reached the home there was no one inside. She scanned the field, looking for Jack, and eventually finding him in the far corner watering young vines. Dorothy, despite the stinging knee, hopped and skipped to his side "Good evening Jack." She greeted, hopping right beside him. The tall man turned his head to her "Oh, hello Dorothy. What brings you here?" he asked, then going back to his watering.

"I scraped my knee on my walk and was wondering if I might be able to wash it out here." Explained the young princess, lifting her knee so he could see.

"Oh," Jack put down the watering can "Of course." He whipped his dirt covered hands on his pants before leading Dorothy back to the house and showing her the faucet where he filled the watering cans. Jack turned on the water for her "You're fine from here, yes?" he asked before standing from his kneel. Dorothy nodded "Alright, good. Help yourself to anything you need, Dorothy," he was about to go back to watering when he suddenly remembered something "Oh, Dorothy." He called as she scrubbed off the knee "I have this plant in my home. Ozma gave it to me, she told me it can heal people." He drifted off, wondering if that was what she'd said "Would you like to use it?" he offered with a shrug. Dorothy turned off the water and wiped her hands on her dress "I've never heard of that before."

"Well neither have I but, considering I know very little about the magic within Oz, I tend to listen to Ozma on the matter."

They wondered inside. Dorothy sat in a chair while Jack clipped off a piece from the thick green horns of his magic plant, cut it in half, and rested the raw inside on her knee. They both stared a moment, waiting for something to happen "Nothing's happening." Dorothy pointed out after a moment.

"Hm," Jack pulled it away "She must have said it did something else."

Dorothy inspected her knee "Well it doesn't hurt anymore." She stated, leaning back in the chair, one of the only furnishings within the small house "I quite like your house Jack. You made it yourself right?"

Jack nodded "Yes, it took a long time to clear it out. Getting never tired, however, most likely cut the time it would have taken in half. Someone made of meat might have gotten tired and had to rest. I did not." He stood "Can I offer you anything to eat, Dorothy, before I go back to work."

"Oh no, I'm fine…why are you always working Jack? Whenever I visit that's all you seem to be doing."

"Well I do have a great field to take care of. Hundreds of pumpkins, during certain times of the season, need hours of work. They need to be watered and watched and what not. Not to mention that I never tire and due to that I often get bored."

"Well then why don't you join us at the Emerald City once in a while?"

"I do, Dorothy, don't you notice me there?"

"Oh, now that I think of it, yes, I do. I can't believe I didn't remember, I'm sorry Jack. Why don't you come over this evening, we'll be playing a big game of blind man's bluff."

"I might stop by later, right now, though, I have to water the young vines and plant new seeds, but after that I am entirely free."

Dorothy hopped off the chair "Alright then, I guess I'll see you later Jack."

They said their goodbyes and Dorothy went her separate way, heading back to the Emerald castle. Fatigued by pain and an already long walk Dorothy blew a whistle around her neck summoning the Sawhorse and it's carriage.

The ride to the castle was quick and swift as only the Sawhorse could manage.

Later in the day Scraps, Ojo, Tik-Tok, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, The Shaggy Man, and Jack Pumpkinhead arrived at the castle to take part in a game of Blind Man's bluff. Everyone rushed about the yard, The Shaggy Man sitting out for most of the time, taking enjoyment from simply watching the fun. He laughed as Scraps was forced into a cart wheel to avoid the blind folded Dorothy.

When night grew near the game was forced to an end, and everyone made their way inside. Ozma treated Ojo, Shaggy Man, and Dorothy to dinner while the rest of the horde sat about and conversed with each other.

"So, Jack, how goes your pumpkin growing?" asked The Shaggy man, finishing the last bit of food on his plate. Jack shrugged "The same as ever. Due to the constantly nice weather in Oz they never spoil, their season is forever."

"Oh, how lucky for you."

"Yes, quite." Said Jack, leaning on his hand and staring blindly at the wall. The Shaggy Man leaned over to look in his face "You seem quite out of it, Jack, is there anything wrong?"

"No, No, I'm fine." He sighs "Just running out of things to keep me occupied."

"Well, I'll be leaving on another journey in a week or so, would you like to join me?"

"No thank you, Shaggy Man, I'm afraid the long journey's you take may ware out my joints and I will have a difficult time walking. I cannot keep a pumpkin patch if I can't walk."

"Oh, I suppose you're right. Why don't you just replace them once they're worn?"

"I suppose I could do that…Although if I were to have to replace my entire leg I'm not entirely sure if it would be alive like I am."

"I guess you're right. If you change your mind, though, I'll be here, for a few more days at least."

"I appreciate the offer at least." Jack then turned his attention to the window at the far side of the room. The outside looked strange for some reason. It was night, yet the sky didn't look dark as it usually did, it looked gray. A thick layer of cloud covered the sky in a gray blanket. Jack thought a moment "Must be rain." He mumbled out loud. The Scarecrow, hearing this, looked to the window and spotted the clouds "Oh-" he started "It seems as though I must stay here tonight. You also, Tin Man."

The Tin Man looked to the window "I suppose so, if it rains before we leave."

Jack tapped his chin "Rain." He mumbled to himself "I didn't see any signs of rain earlier." He shrugged, knowing that rain is not always predictable. Suddenly something jumped upon his head "I'm not afraid of any rain!" called Scraps, leap frogging over Jack, and flipping onto the floor. Scarecrow leaned forward "But Scraps, my dear, if you get soggy you won't be able to go anywhere, you'll be too heavy and flimsy" he pointed out.

Jack put up a finger "Not to mention if not wrung out correctly you could grow moldy, and nobody wants that. I once had a moldy head when I kept it on for too long, and it was very unpleasing to both the mind and eye."

"Hm!" Scraps huffed "I'm not afraid of any mold or rain," she laughed "Why Jack, you should know! I don't gave a care about how I look, why I'm such a unique person it doesn't matter at all!" she laughed again before cartwheeling across the room back towards the table. The Scarecrow shook his head "Scraps, my dear, why would you want to ruin your beautiful quilt colors with mold." Scarecrow scowled with disgust at the thought of it. Scraps laughed "Don't worry Scarecrow, I'm sure you'd still find me quite stunning."

Shaggy Man cut in "You will always be quite a creature, Scraps, mold or no."

"Why thank you Shaggy Man," replied Scraps, walking around the table. Everyone who ate had already finished their food and was now conversing. While everyone laughed and told stories Jack thought about the rain. While he wanted to join the fun the fact that rain was coming bothered him "It's not the rainy season." She said aloud again. Scarecrow leaned over the table "Are you still worried about the rain Jack?" he asked, snapping Jack out of his thoughts. Scraps jumped upon his head once more, wrapping her arms around it "What do you have to worry about with rain Jack? You are wood, not cloth

You should be able to scoff

At the possible mold

That your body can hold

For you can be dried off

With fabric or air

You shouldn't give a care!" she laughed, then standing unsteadily on the chair beside him "The rain falls!" she cried, falling backwards onto Jack, who tried his hardest to catch her. She ended up, despite her light body, nearly knocking him from his chair as he put out his arms to catch her. Scraps took hold of the sides of his head "But you have nothing to worry about." She hopped off his lap and danced through the room.

"Snow!" Dorothy cried from the end of the table, her small finger pointing at the window. Everyone seemed to stop. Ojo and Dorothy raced towards the window, Ozma close behind but going much slower. The Shaggy Man stood and went to the back door beside the dining room. He stepped out briefly to investigate the strange phenomenon. "Well," he sifted the snow between his fingers "I've seen popcorn snow before, but, never had I seen _real _snow in the Land of Oz"

Despite the cold Dorothy ran out in her dress and began frolicking in the snowy wonderland with Ojo. Even Ozma joined in the fun, never having experienced snow before. "Oh this is so exciting!" cried Dorothy, having not experienced a lot of snow in her life "This reminds me of the time I went to Wyoming to celebrate Christmas." She said, falling back on the ground and creating a snow angel. Ojo grabbed his arms "Dorothy, aren't you cold?"

Dorothy hugged herself, suddenly realizing how cold it was. She stood up and dusted herself off "Oh yeah, lets go inside for now. Maybe Ozma can find us some winter clothes."

Scraps approached Dorothy's snow angel "Why that looks fun!" she cried, then falling beside it and creating her own.

While Scraps flourished in the snow Jack and the others stared at the sky in wonder. No one in the land of Oz had ever truly seen snow before. They'd heard a few stories from Dorothy, but, being from Kansas, she didn't have many stories to tell. The Tin Woodman saw the snow melt o his tin body "Oh-" he panicked slightly "I should probably stay inside, I don't want to rust you know." He explained to the scarecrow, then heading inside.

Scraps jumped to her feet and looked at her work "Wonderful!" she cried, then running over to her friends, still standing at the door. She grabbed the scarecrow by his arms and threw him onto the ground "Try it!" she demanded happily "It's fun," she said, then taking Jack by the arms and throwing him beside the Scarecrow. Scarecrow stood up quicky "Scraps, you'll get me all wet."

"Oh no I won't" she said, putting up a finger "It just sits on the surface of your clothes, it won't get your straw wet at all. "

Jack sat up "It may," he pointed out, putting his arms out for the two to grab and help him up. They got the message and hoisted Jack back to his feet "If you get snowy enough." He concluded, then heading back to the door. He stopped, suddenly, as a cool breeze ran by. Although he couldn't feel it's coldness he could feel a strange sensation. It wasn't like the warm sensation like when he takes pies out of the oven, but it was different, it made his head feel harder.

"My pumpkins" he mumbled, suddenly having a terrible realization "The cold will freeze my pumpkins! That could ruin my entire patch." With this Jack rushed out of the court yard and back to his home in an attempt to save his beloved pumpkins.

Jack never liked wasting pumpkins, if he couldn't use one as a head he's use it for something else like pastries or other forms of food. For a man who could not eat Jack made _a lot _of food. Of course, though, with a pumpkin patch so large it is nearly impossible not to let any pumpkins go bad. A few here or there will always rot eventually. The frost and snow, however, could wipe out his entire crop. Pumpkins can stand up to some frost, it will just kill the vines, but if it gets colder it could ruin the pumpkin as well.

Jack had planned on carving himself a new head the next day, his currant one was getting groggy. When he got home he carved himself a head quickly before they all froze over, not wanting to live with a rotting head if the snow did not subside in a couple of days. The mouth was lopsided and the eyes slightly different sizes, but a head was a head.

While Jack worried about his precious pumpkins, Scraps took interest in something that she'd heard Dorothy say earlier "Dorothy." She said, sitting beside the young princess in one of the sitting rooms "What's Christmas?"

**I realize the sequencing of this might have seemed a little strange, but I'm still attempting to get the story entirely organized. Is Dorothy having a whistle for the Sawhorse a thing, because I thought it was. Also, did anyone else watch Oz Kids when they were a child? Because I recently rediscovered it and I thought it was just a dream my head made up, like a memory that wasn't real, but it turns out the nameless children's show I've had in my head for years was Oz Kids, and I found that very funny, considering I only recently discovered my love for Oz a few years ago, but have actually loved Oz all my life. HaHa, funny isn't it? Alright, well, hope you liked it so far, read on my friends, there is more to come. R and R please. J**


	2. Chapter 2

**Considering how many views this story has gotten I apologize to those who find it unappealing. Although considering those who have no interest in it will not open it to read this note, I'm just sending it mentally through the airwaves. Oz Christmas is nothing like real world Christmas, just a time to appreciate what they have and what others have done, like half the holidays in the world, even if in the real world the holidays have strayed from their original path. Read on, and enjoy (hopefully) **

Scraps sat eagerly listening to Dorothy as she told tails of the wonder of Christmas in America "And people sing songs and what not to celebrate, and we give little gifts to each other that we set around a big pine tree in the middle of the house full of streamers and colorful ornaments. Wow-" Dorothy huffed, "I haven't celebrated that since I began living in Oz. It's a real fun holiday, a real nice family get together."

The Shaggy Man sat down between the two girls "Ah, yes, I remember that. I haven't had such a celebration in who knows how many years."

Scraps jumped from her seat and spread her arms to the sky "Great!" she cried happily, they throwing her hands to her hips "When do we start?"

"Start?" inquired Dorothy "Start what?"

"Start celebrating of course! Why there's so much to celebrate in Oz! All of our friends and foes and panty hoes, there's so much to thank Oz for" Scraps leaped over to Ozma, sitting in a chair close by, and shook her hand "Why thank you Ozma, for being such a great ruler." She then hopped to the Shaggy Man "And thank you Shaggy Man for being so Shaggy. See Dorothy? But I can't possibly thank all of the people in Oz without a large colorful celebration like the one you've described."

Dorothy put up a finger "Well, Scraps, not all those holidays to thank everyone are like that, most are peaceful time with family."

Scraps leap frogged over Dorothy's chair and head "But that's no fun, I sit around with my friends enough. I want to sing and build this snow man creature you spoke of, and then dance with him."

"Scraps, you can't-"

"And I want to give and get gifts, of all different sizes."

"But Scraps!" Dorothy called loudly, finally quieting the girl "You celebrate things like that all the time. Ozma has a great yearly celebration of her birthday and Oz Day and-"

"But I've done all of those things before! Multiple times! I've never done _this." _

Dorothy sighed, knowing she'd never get the ecstatic girl to back down "Well, I guess we could celebrate, but I assume we'd need Ozma's permission."

"My permission for what exactly?" asked Ozma, hearing her name from across the room, but not the entire conversation. Dorothy approached the seated princess "Scraps want's to celebrate Christmas in Oz." she explained.

Ozma furrowed her brow "What is this Christmas?" she asked. Dorothy began explaining again what the colorful family holiday was and by the end Ozma was not convinced "We have holidays in Oz all the time, and Oz is already full of color. There's no need to schedule another, I'm sorry, Scraps, but my answer is no."

Scraps threw herself towards the fairly ruler "But why not!? We love celebrating in Oz!" she did a spin, lifting her arms in the air to gesture the castle "No one can resist a good get together!" she laughed "Why, Ozma, this is just my holiday, with color and noise and singing and dancing, celebrating! It's all just celebrating!"

"Scraps we do things like that all the time!" Called Ozma sternly over the girl "Can't you see that it is no different than-"

"No!" Scraps stopped Ozma mid-sentence, knowing what she was going to say "It's not the same,"

Ozma sighed, shaking her head "Scraps, I cannot force my subjects to celebrate an unfamiliar holiday. I'm sorry, but it's not happening. We have to calm down once and a while. Didn't we just have a banquet party a few weeks ago? I see no reason to have another."

"But can't you see the difference Ozma? In this holiday you give _gifts _to show how much you love them."

"We don't need any gifts to show how much we love and appreciate each other." Ozma sighed, knowing the Patchwork Girls would never stop bothering her "But if would like to host a "Christmas" party I'll allow you to use my castle to do so, but I won't have any part of it."

Scraps jumped into the air with a great "Yippee!" before falling back to the ground and doing a hand spring to the door. "I'll make this amazing, you'll see." She bragged before flipping away. She hopped and skipped away to one of the empty offices in the castle, hoping she'd be able to find some paper to write invitations with. Through her search he found none, and contemplated upon where she might go to find some. Eventually she figured a place where she knew paper would be. Ozma supplied stacks and stacks of paper to Jack Pumpkinhead to keep him occupied. While she loved the pumpkinhead, she found that once he ran out of things to do he wondered to the emerald city and usually interrupted Ozma while she was attempting to complete royal duties.

Paper kept Jack occupied for hours, he scribbled out designs for buildings and vehicles, and whatever else anyone requested. Ozma had recently requested a library design to go somewhere beside the Woggle Bugs school. Recently The Woggle Bug, despite his love for books, had employed education pills to do all the story telling, and was replacing all the books in the library with a bank of education pills.

Scraps made her way through the gray snowy wonderland. Morning had come but the sky was still blanketed in a sheet of cloud. Her leather heels crunched the snow with every step. It didn't take long to reach Jacks house. When she got there she noticed that many of the pumpkins surrounding the house had shirts, coats, vests, and pants thrown over them. One even wore a hat, looking almost like Jack himself. Scraps wandered inside the house. She noticed that parts of the wall were covered on frost. Sitting at a desk between the oven and a chair, was Jack scribbling furiously at a scrap of paper. Jack quickly crimpled up the sheet and added it to a pile developing in the corner. Scraps looked over his shoulder "Whatcha drawing?" she asked, causing Jack to jump with surprise. He hadn't realized she'd come in "Oh Scraps," he sighed with relief "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to ask you for a stack of paper."

"Oh-" Jack trailed off "I'm afraid I don't have much. I've already scribbled on most of it, and I used most to burn in the oven to keep my house from freezing entirely."

Scraps raised her brow "You lit a fire in your oven?"

Jack shrugged "There's fire in my oven all the time, and I had no furnace, so where else was I supposed to light it?"

"Why do you need one? Such a large pumpkin shouldn't freeze so easily I think."

"This pumpkin, with its immense size was supposed to last me quite a while, but with this frost and its thinner walls, it won't last me much longer." Jack stood from his seat and began pacing about the room "If it gets any colder it will spoil the pumpkin and all the others and I won't be able to make myself a new home until one of the new seeds grows a pumpkin big enough." He grabbed on to Scraps shoulders and shook her back and forth "Oh Scraps What am I going to do!" he asked, obviously overwhelmed by the situation. Scraps, after her shock had dispersed, shuffled from her friends grasp "Jack you have nothing to worry about." She stated "And to help you stop worrying, I suggest you come with me to my Christmas party."

"Come with you to where? What?"

"I am having a grand Christmas party in Ozma's castle!" she said proudly "And I'm inviting all the best people in Oz, you, Dorothy, Ojo, Hungry Tiger, Popla, and maybe I can even get your shoe orchestra to play!" she exclaimed happily. Jack shook his head "I'm afraid the orchestra is on tour in the Gillikin country at the moment. If they were here I'd be practicing with them, but Jinjur was going to farm fairs all around the Gillikin country anyways so she offered to take them."

"Oh…is that why you've used all your paper already? It's all you have to do?"

"I'm afraid so. I've read all my books, I can't make anything really, and I have a project to complete anyways." He sat back down and began to sketch again "You design one corn castle and spoolicle and they want you to design them all." He mumbled, then picking up one of the crimpled sheets, unfolding it and adding to the failed attempt. Scraps looked over his shoulder again "Technically I should be considered an architect, or draftsman or I guess designer considering my part in the building of the building but I couldn't tell you my official title." Jack mumbled, mostly to himself. Scraps hummed "Don't you ever run out of ideas, Jack, when you switch your heads?"

"I've found that even by switching my head my knack for this sort of thing never dissipates."

"Hm, I wonder why that is….anyway, Jack, would you mind if I took the rest of your paper to make my invitations?"

"Do as you please, Scraps, I don't mind. Make yourself at home." He handed her a blue quill pen and a small stack of papers. Scraps sat down in the chair beside the desk and began writing. Her cotton glove fingers fumbled clumsily with the pen. Her hand writing was terrible but legible. By the time she filled out six invitations her hands were covered in blue ink "Oh how dreadful." She mumbled, setting down the pen. "Jack, will you do me a favor?" she asked.

"Depends on what it is." Replied Jack, not bothering to look at her. Scraps stood and placed the stack of papers on top of Jacks work "Will you write these invitations please. I hate to ruin my hands with this stupid pen."

Jack sighed "What do you want on them?" he asked, picking up his pen and putting it to the paper. Scraps put up a finger and began to recite her invitation as she paced about the room "You are invited to Scraps Wonderfully Great celebration of the new holiday, uh-" she wanted to re-name the holiday, finding it's currant name quite unattractive "Greatness!" she cried happily, hopping onto one leg. Jack shot a look to her "Greatness?" he questioned "You can't just name a holiday Greatness, that doesn't make any sense."

"Neither does a pumpkinhead but we still keep you around don't we?"

If Jack's face could move he would have scowled at the out of line comment. Instead he went back to the sheet and wrote what Scraps instructed him to. He wrote the statement twenty times over before Scraps told him they had enough. "I thought you wanted this to be a big celebration." Questioned Jack, straightening the pile of papers "There are more than 26 people required at a _big _celebration."

A knock came from Jacks open door and in stepped the Shaggy Man "Scraps, here you are." He greeted, approaching the two queer characters "Dorothy wondered where you'd rushed off to."

"I just came to get paper from Jack here." Explained the Patchwork Girl to the Shaggy old man. The Shaggy Man was taken aback for a moment "Why didn't you just ask Ozma for some?" he inquired. Scraps turned her head upward with a loud huff "If Ozma doesn't want to be part of my celebration then she _won't _be, in _any _way."

Shaggy Man nodded his head "Oh, right, she did say that didn't she? Well, Scraps, what do you have planned for this celebration, you have your tree and dinner plans for the meat people, music, the people coming, decorations,-"

"Stop!" cried the Patchwork Girl "I haven't even gotten invitations out yet."

"Why don't you just use Ozma's invitation maker and deliver them with the Sawhorse?"

"Ozma has an invitation maker?! Why that makes this task so much easier. To the Emerald City!" Called Scraps, then flying out the door and back down the road. The Shaggy Man fallowed, but Jack refused in fear of freezing his head.

"Why is Jack so afraid of freezing!?" cried Scraps, cartwheeling down the path with the Shaggy Man beside her "He's a good solid pumpkin."

The Shaggy Man pointed to his head "Pumpkins are full of moisture, you see, and when it gets cold the water freezes, thus freezing the pumpkin. While freezing things can be good if it gets too cold it will split the skin, even crack the shell, ruining the pumpkin. Considering poor Jacks field is frozen if his currant head were to get ruined he'd have nothing to replace it with."

"Oh-" Scraps stopped and put her finger to her lip "That makes sense." She said then continuing on her merry way. After a few more cart wheels she stopped and shook off her hands "Oh this cold is so uncomfortable." She mumbled, flicking the frost from her frozen fingers. The Shaggy Man shivered in the cold. Although his coat was thick, the frost was thicker. His hands were stuck in fists in an attempt to keep warm, to no prevail. When they reached the Emerald City and Ozma's castle, Shaggy Man lead Scraps to a back room where one of The Wizards many inventions sat. The room contained a whole array of different sorts of papers piled up evenly in special holders that kept them flat. Leading to the main mechanism were pipes of multiple different ink colors, all the colors out could think of, and all the colors you couldn't. In the center of the chaos was a large rectangular box fit with hundreds of different buttons marked with colors, numbers, letters, anything that would have to be on an invitation. To the right of the machine was a large flat press that spit into a large crate.

"Since when has this been here!?" called Scraps, putting her hands on her hips. The Shaggy Man approached the machine and taught her how to use it. There were three different sections on the huge keyboard, one labeled PAPER the other two labeled QUNITY and WRITING.

All Scraps had to do was type in what she needed and in mere minutes the machine spit out 100 different invitations. "Perfect!" cried Scraps, scooping up the invitations in her clumsy arms and wondering out of the room. Shaggy Man walked behind her, picking up all the invitation she dropped, which was many.

On their way through the castle they came across Dorothy "Hey Scraps," she greeted, then furrowing her brow in confusion "What have you got there?" she asked, eyeing the stack of papers in Scraps and Shaggy Man's arms. Scraps leaned down to the little girl "We're delivering invitations to the people of Oz." Scaps picked a piece from her pile and handed it to Dorothy "Like you," with that she was off again, The Shaggy Man fallowing quickly behind. Scraps decided quickly that she needed to find someone to deliver these notes with The sawhorse. "I'll get Jack to do it" she decided immediately, not wanting to rust the Tin Woodman, freeze The Shaggy Man, or ruin The Scarecrows cloth and straw.

Scraps made her way to the stalls where she found the Sawhorse, standing contently in his space.

"Sawhorse!" called Scraps happily "Will you do me a favor?"

"Depends on what it is." He stated, looking up at the colorful figure. Scraps smiled, knowing her terms would easily be met "I need you to go with Jack Pumpkinhead and deliver these invitations to all the favorite people in Oz."

The sawhorse, having nothing else to do, and not minding the cold one bit, agreed to the task. After the invitations were collected in bags and set upon the Sawhorses back, he gave the two a ride to Jacks Pumpkin.

"No, No, No, No, No," said Jack sternly when he heard Scraps proposition. Scraps shoulders slummed "Come on," she pleaded "you're the only one I'm willing to bother with such a task. If I were to ask the Tin Woodman or Scarecrow the snow could ruin them. It could soak up into Scarecrow and ruin his straw or rust The Tim Woodman and take away his shine-"

"Scraps!" Jack called "They can be fixed, right now, if they came back ruined, they could be fixed easily. I would ruin my head...I have no more heads!"

"Alright, alright," Scraps backed off "Alright, I'll deliver the invitations; you decorate the party hall in Ozma's castle."

Jack stood a moment, staring at her slightly confused "With what?" he finally asked, knowing full well that Scraps knew near to nothing about what she really had to do. Scraps threw her arms in the air "I don't know! You hang up streamers and colorful trinkets and put a whole array of small glass objects on a tree to show it off. On the walls you hang rope covered in colorful streams. You get the idea don't you?"

Jack thought a moment with a finger to the edge of his carved mouth "I suppose," he stated with a shrug, not actually entirely sure if he did. Despite this doubt he allowed Scraps to leave all of the decorating to him when she dropped him off at the palace before heading off to deliver the invitations.

"I hope you don't disappoint me Jack be sure to make it look amazing!" she cried before ridding off. By that time is was late afternoon and Dorothy had decide to take her lunch to the frost covered garden, now that she was fully prepared for the cold thanks to Ozma's magic. Jack passed through the small area, surprised to see Dorothy sitting on a snow covered bench "Hello Jack." She greeted him, surprising him for a moment.

"Oh, Hello Dorothy…Aren't you cold?"

"No, not now that I have this nice coat Ozma gave me."

"Oh…why are you sitting out here all alone?"

The little girl shrugged "Toto didn't want to accompany me into this dreary weather so he's staying inside for now. The same goes for Ojo and the others…We don't get much snow where I come from so I want to enjoy every minute of it!"

"Oh…" In truth, due to his current situation, Jack could not fathom why anyone would voluntarily sit I weather much as this for longer than a minute or two "I guess I'll see you inside then," he said before turning towards the stairs. Before he was able to climb them Dorothy called to him "Wait!" she called, standing up and jogging towards him. She pulled something from her coat pocket that appeared to be an orange knit bag "Ozma said to give you this so you can go outside when you need without being afraid that your head will freeze." She stated, handing it up to him. He slipped the bag over his pumpkinhead but was immediately unimpressed with the craftsmanship "Well I can't even see with it," he mumbled through the fabric. Dorothy giggled before instructing him to lean down so that she could rectify the situation. He took a knee before the girl, allowing her to twist the cover until the eye holes lined up with his eyes "Much better." He sighed, then using Dorothy's shoulder to help him stand. Considering Jack did not really use his mouth cut out other than to speak there was no hole in the cover for his mouth, which didn't bother the pumpkinhead at all, knowing he will be more thoroughly protected that way.

"Thanks you Dorothy, this will be most helpful…Now, Dorothy, you were the one who taught Scraps about your holiday correct?"

Dorothy nodded "Yes I did."

"Wonderful, that means you can help me. I've never celebrated this, as you probably already know, but I was put in charge of decorating…Would you mind helping me in this task?"

Dorothy's face brightened "Why, sure I would!" she grabbed Jacks thin wooden arm and dragged him inside "This is going to be great!" she cried happily, the broad smile never leaving her lips "It feels like forever since I've celebrated for Christmas! I promise you and me are going to make it these the best decorations ever!"

**Sorry for the wait, I have many unfinished fics to work on and am determined to finish all the old unfinished ones and ideas keep scrambling my brain so my ability to keep track of which story should be priority is basically non existent. Until next time. J**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello readers, here, as you can clearly see, is the next chapter for Celebration. I just got over writers block so I'm not entirely sure how well this will come out. Despite this, read on and enjoy.**

Scraps rode throughout the snowy wonderland. She delivered an invitation to her closest friends and nearest enemies. She wanted everyone to enjoy the celebration, even those who she and the other Oz people had quarreled with in the past. She wanted her holiday to be different than any of Ozma's. All things considered she invited Kalico the Nome king, The Frogman, General Jinjur, Polychrome, Ojo and his Unc Nunkie, she invited Betsy Bobbin and Trot as well as Cap'n Bill, and planned on inviting the Royal family of Ev with the Wizards help and Santa as well since it was only appropriate. On her travels she encountered Woot the Wonderer who was wondering away at the time and Button Bright who had lost himself again. Both accepted invitation saying their arrival could be delayed "It depends on whether or not I make my way over there." Explained Woot while Button Bright told Scraps he'd love to "So long as I don't lose myself along the way." He said. Scraps frowned "I think you should stay with me, Button Bright, so that you don't get lost and miss the celebration."

Button Bright accepted the offer gratefully and climbed onto the back of the Sawhorse. He helped Scraps to deliver her invitations, even taking a few into towns and giving them to the towns people, telling the people to spread the news and that everyone's invited who wants to come. After the last invitation was handed out Scraps hopped happily to the Sawhorse. "Oh, this is so exciting!" she called, climbing over the Sawhorses back and waiting for Button Bright to do the same.

They were delivered swiftly back to the castle where the Sawhorse, instead of retiring to the stables, fallowed his two passengers inside the warm castle. Scraps turned to him "What are you doing?" she inquired "Your place is in the stables."

"I'm afraid, Scraps, that the stables aren't protected from the cold like this castle is. I can't stay in there or I may crack and chip or even split down the middle. I prefer that not happen mind you."

Scraps hummed "Alright, fair enough." She then turned to the door of the main room. Jack was supposed to be decorating this room and Scraps assumed he'd be finished by now. A thoughts suddenly struck Scraps, one that scared he quite a bit. While Jack was a lovable character his brains only extended so far and his pumpkin had been affected negatively by the frost. Scraps wasn't sure if leaving the task of decorating to him was one of her better decisions. He was clumsy and weak and did not want to leave the castle for cold to retrieve a tree. She took a deep breath and opened the doors.

The sight before her made her gasp.

(Earlier)

Jack and Dorothy entered into the main room. Dorothy Inspected the space. It was quite large and they could probably do anything they wanted with it. Dorothy looked up and Jack "So, I think I need some help with this. I'm going to go see it Uncle Henry or Aunt Em have any books on Christmas decorating. If anyone would have something like that it's them."

Jack tapped his chin "I don't think that's necessary. I know where we can get something like that."

Jack lead Dorothy deep into the castle to a small closet in the back. He flicked on the light and looked around the moment. The closet went in for about six feet. The shelves lining the walls made it too narrow for two people to walk beside each other. The shelves seemed out of character for the castle. They were old and metal and smelled like old books and wood. The shelves were overflowing with books, toys, wheels, and hundred of other random objects beyond your wildest thoughts.

"What is this room?" asked Dorothy, mesmerized with the amount of junk they managed to stuff upon the shelves. Jack gestured the shelves "This is the junk room. It's filled with lost objects and such that have fallen to Oz through the years." He began to shove things off of the shelf "I remember a little while ago seeing a few books titled with the same name as this new holiday. He reached to the back of the shelves which extended much farther than it looked to. Dorothy began to inspect the trinkets on the wall before looking back to Jack and finding him half engulfed by the shelf. She jumped slightly at the sight, not expecting to see anything like it. "Wow," she started "Those really go deep don't they?"

"Yes," called Jack "They go on forever I think. Oz has been around for a long time, you see, and in it's time many objects have come across the dessert. So much stuff fell, in fact, that our land was littered with foreign objects making the land most unpleasant to look at. Glinda put a simple spell on the ground so that anything coming in would just come here. Large things, like your house, though,and people of course, are usually left where they fall. Can you imagine a house in here? Ha! That would be a sight."

As Jack searched he recited many facts about Oz, many of which Dorothy had never heard of. "You sure know a lot about Oz." she stated, sitting on the ground and continuing to listen. Jack Shrugged "I suppose. I've read many books on the subject and despite my change of head my brains seem to retain such information. I don't understand that, though, because I often lose a memory or two when I switch heads. I've read nearly all the books in Ozma's library and the Woggle Bugs."

"Wow! I didn't know you were such an avid reader."

"Of course. It's not as though I have anything else to do. While I take care of my pumpkin patch and such that only takes a few hours from each day the rest of the time I sit at home and read or I go and take company with you and Ozma and anyone else who happens to be at the castle."

"You must read fast Jack, you haven't been around for that long."

Jack pulled out of the space, bringing with him and thick gold book "What are you talking about Dorothy? I've been around for more years than either of us can count. Nearly the same amount of time you've been around."

"Oh really?" she shrugged "I suppose years just don't feel much like years since I don't often grow."

"That could be it." Mumbled Jack, inspecting the book in his hand "This should tell us all we need to know. It's titled Christmas and appears to be an instruction book." He handed it to Dorothy "What do you think? You know more about this than I do."

He dropped the book into the little girls hands. It has heavier than she expected it to be and she almost dropped it. She struggled to lift the book to her chest and tried to open it but found that she couldn't without dropping it. Jack took the book back and suggested they place it on a table for viewing.

They made their way to one of the sitting rooms where Jack placed the book on the coffee table and began flipping through it. It was full of everything one could possibly do with decorations. "Oh this will be easy." Jack mumbled "These are all very similar to the decorations we use for other holidays. There's a whole closet full of fallen decorations. We keep them separate because there have been so many they take up half the junk closet. Here, I'll got get them"

Jack stood up and went to retrieve the supplies while Dorothy began to flip through the book.

As Jack lifted a box from the closet floor and headed towards the door he ran into someone standing in the way. He stopped short and dropped the box at Ozma's feet "Oh…I'm sorry Ozma, you surprised me."

Ozma bent down and helped to put the spilled contents back in the box "I'm sorry." She apologized "What are you doing in here Jack?" she inquired, standing up with the container and handing it to Jack.

"Dorothy and I were just gathering things to decorate the celebration. Did we disturb you?"

"Oh no, no, I was just passing by."

They began walking down the hall together. Jack looked back and forth from Ozma to the box. He wanted to ask her something but was unsure upon if he should. "Ozma." He started, figuring it couldn't hurt "I have a question."

Ozma looked at him "What is it?"

"Well…I was just wondering- why are you so against this holiday? It wouldn't hurt to add another celebration to the list."

Ozma sighed, she knew that was what he was going to ask, everyone was wondering it. She took a deep breath "Jack-" she didn't know how to explain "Do you remember the time you took over for me while I was away and everyone kept coming on with their problems and you had many royal duties."

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, as you know Jack, I am the ruler of this land and due to that I have many responsibilities. Due to this snow I have a lot more things to do, complaints to work out, clothes to provide explanations. This ice has disrupted growing seasons, popes parties and plans, hurt businesses. I have a lot to deal with right now and no time for a party. That's why I told her she could have the party by herself but that I could take no part in it."

"So you're not against this holiday really?"

"Not the idea of it. The appreciation of friends and such is a great idea in my mind. You go on as you will, I have a lot to get done."

She was about to walk off when she stopped short, remembering something "Oh, I nearly forgot. Jack, I got you something." She dragged the Pumpkinhead back to her room where he waited outside for her to return. She came back baring a small pile of dark clothes which she handed to Jack. "These are winter clothes. I thought you could use them so you could travel outside without worry. I trust Dorothy gave you the head cover."

Jack took the clothes. A pair of boots sat on the top, ones that were more water resistant than most he already owned. With that Ozma went on to her own business, leaving Jack to his.

Jack placed the clothes in the decoration box and went back to Dorothy. He went back and forth four times from the closet to the main room. "The party should only take place in the banquet room and main room since those are the biggest." Started Dorothy, already having everything planned out in her head. They worked tirelessly for hours making both rooms as festive and holiday appropriate as possible. They lined the walls with red, gold, and green streamers and placed fake poinsettia bouquets on the dining table.

Dorothy stepped back, inspecting their work in the banquet hall "That looks good," she stated then moving to the main room to inspect that a well. After that they inspected the ball room, which they decided to decorate for good measure. She journeyed back to the main room and stared a while, twisting her head back and forth with her finger to her chin, trying to figure something out.

Jack, who had done all of the decorating under Dorothy's command and instruction became nervous "Did I do well?" he asked "Did I do something wrong? What's the matter? You're not saying anything."

Dorothy smiled at his nervousness. She looked up at him "No, Jack, you did fine, it looks great, and I love your little touches." She looked back in the room "There's just something missing."

Jack shrugged "Well let's consult the book."

They went back to the big book and flipped through it. Dorothy immediately found the problem "Of course!" she cried "A tree!"

"A tree?"

"Yes, a Christmas tree. No celebration like this is complete without a Christmas tree."

Jack examined the picture "It looks like a pine tree." He stated "We can go chop one in the forest and bring it back here."

"Perfect, I'll get the Tin Woodman and we can-"

"There's no need for that Dorothy, I can put on my winter clothes and chop a tree for you."

"You can? I never realized how much stuff you could do Jack, I thought you just tended to your pumpkins."

"Tending to a large patch like I have takes a lot of work, Dorothy, I am familiar with swinging an ax to cut the thick vines of large pumpkins which can be a very difficult job."

"Oh, well lets get going then, Scraps could be back soon."

Jack changed into his new clothes which consisted of a pair of petit snow pants to fit his thin legs and a coat made to fit his narrow body. The pants puffed out a little and held tightly at the ankles like modern parachute pants but were made of a plasticy material like snow pants. He tied the boots over the bottom and buttoned the pair of leather gloves he had over the sleeves of the coat. The finishing touch was his head cover.

Dorothy also got ready, throwing on her winter coat, a hat, a pair of gloves, her now boots and a pair of snow pants in case she wanted to play in the snow while she was out there. Her clothes were mostly black and while with a little blue and pink here and there.

They first made a trek to Jacks house to get and axe. Dorothy noted that it had become colder since the last time she was out there, and darker too, with the heavy clouds now blanketing the sky entirely.

When they got the axe they left the thicker brush to head for the open fields where the occasional Pine tree planted its roots.

Jack fallowed Dorothy, an axe thrown over his shoulder as they trudged through the deep snow. It was as high as the middle of Jacks shins and almost to Dorothy's knees. The little girl struggled though it, lifting her legs high to get to the next step.

At one point she stopped, removing her hands from her arms and lifting her head to look around. She stood still for a while, longer than Jack had inspected "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Listen." Says the little girl. Jack waits a moment before shaking his head "I don't hear anything."

Dorothy turns to him "Exactly," she looks straight ahead "It's so quiet…nothings happening…it's so peaceful." Her voc was almost a whisper as she took in the lack of activity. The peaceful silence was endless and a great relief. It was so relaxing and nice both travelers seemed to forget about their worries, the cold, everything.

After a while they had to keep moving, but as the snow crunched below their boots they noted that that was the only sound in the gray wonderland. Towards the center of the field they found one single tree. They had walked for almost a half hour through complete nothing ness only to happen upon one single tree. The two looked at each other "I think someone's telling us something," said Jack, half joking. Dorothy smiled and looked back at the tree "I guess that's the one."

It wasn't a large tree, but it wasn't too small either being just slightly taller than Jack. Jack made quick work with his chopping, trying to make it as even as possible but being unable. After taking out a chunk to determine where it would fall he chopped fairly evenly upon Dorothy's request. With a fairly thin trunk it didn't take long to chop through it.

After it fell and Jack began tying a rope to it Dorothy stared at it thoroughly "It's not real pretty," she commented "It's got a lot of holes." True, the tree was much les than perfect, holding many uneven parts and a scraggly bottom, but it was quite nice for itself and seemed a tree deserving to be dressed up for such a grand occasion. Jack stood, whipping off his pants, and took the end of the rope he'd attached to the tree.

It wasn't difficult to drag it back to the castle, although the trek was almost forty minutes and the warmth of the caste was a great relief.

"Do we have a holder?" asks Dorothy, taking off her coat and hanging it on a hook beside the door. Jack shook his head "There's no need for that. With a little bit of magic, if Ozma permits me, the tree can be suspended in the corner without assistance.

"But what about the bottom? Won't that look kind of dull?"

"I'm sure we can take care of that as well."

With a bit of Ozma's help they floated the tree in the corner of the main room. Jack puled a good amount of colorful red white and gold fabric at the bottom as well as streamers, bells and fake poinsettias to cover the floating trunk. He then proceeded to decorate it with bells, flowers, streamers, lights and the occasional ornament Dorothy handed up to him. At the end, when everything was prepared, Jack went around several times making sure everything was perfect and in place, referring to the book several times to double check. Dorothy kept watch at the window for Scraps.

"They're coming!" she called, spotting them up the road and closing fast.

Jack and Dorothy quickly got into position, standing before the door where Scraps would enter.

When she arrived and entered through the door, she couldn't help but gasp

**I like this chapter. Also, question, is it strange that I ship Jack and Scraps? I realize the Scraps and Scarecrow ship is a given but due to their different personalities, Scraps being outgoing and excited, Jack being more calm and less excitable, I think they go well together. Anyways, please review, oh please, please please. I love reviews so much. Thanks! J**


	4. Chapter 4

**Man, it didn't even look like I edited that last chapter. Sorry for the long wait, I was busy with another fic. **

Scraps ran to Jack and instantly embraced him with excitement. She began hopping up and down spitting out "Thank you thank you thank you," over and over and over again. She separated from her friend "It looks marvelous Jack!" she called, spinning about the room. She clapped her hands together; everything was going just as she'd hoped. All of the invitations had been sent out, the castle was decorated, now all she needed to do was set up food for the humans coming and everything would be set.

She made her way to the kitchen where Jellia Jam was just finishing cleaning up after a meal she'd made for Ozma.

"Jellia!" called Scraps, stopping in the doorway "I would like to speak to you about catering the celebration tomorrow."

Jellia stopped her work and looked at the girl, confused "What celebration?" she asked.

"The Celebration I'm throwing tomorrow evening for the new holiday called Christmas that Dorothy introduced to me."

"I've never heard anything about it, does Ozma know about this?"

"Of course! She may not be participating but she gave me her castle to use. I'm assuming that includes the castle's kitchen. I realize that most of the people I've invited are made of meat and meat people require food. I'll have Jack supply desserts and I'm asking you and your cooks to prepare dinner and horderves."

Jellia was taken back "This seems surprisingly organized for you, Scraps, are you feeling okay?"

"I feel wonderful!" she cried, throwing her arms in the air and dancing on one foot "I've just come to realize that excitement does not always equal organization, and with the amount of things that need to be done, I decided to combine them."

"Oh…That's strange…I'm sure I can complete everything by tomorrow. How much do you need?"

"I have no idea!" Called Scraps happily "I gave out one hundred invitations and many, many verbal notes all over the towns. I'm assuming a large turn out."

"…I'll see what I can do," said Jellia hesitantly, fairly sure she'd never be able to make enough food for the amount of people Scraps was describing in the amount of time they had. She thought it best not to ask what Scraps wanted for dinner.

Scraps moved to the main room where everyone sat studying Jack and Dorothy's decorating skills. Scraps looked around, still nearly mesmerized by the sight "Jack, I don't know how you did it," she stated, hoping upon a chair and gesturing the room "You don't even know anything about this holiday, not to mention your limited brains," She leap frogged over his head to the next chair "Although considering your skills in design I suppose it's only natural."

"I'm not the only one to thank," started Jack "Without Dorothy's help and the big book of decorating I would have been completely lost."

As they spoke Dorothy was looking through the large gold book. She jumped in surprise, seeing something they'd forgotten and wondering how they'd forgotten it. She smiled, almost deviously, as she sifted through one of the boxes that still had unused stuff in it. Her smile widened when she pulled from the box a little horde of leaves spotted with white specks and a red berry.

"Jack," she called, interrupting the conversation between him and Scraps "We forgot something." She stated, presenting the mistletoe to the decorator. Jack examined the small bundle confused "What is this?" he asked.

"It's called mistletoe. It's a tradition, you hang it somewhere and if two people get caught under it they have to kiss."

"Oh…why do they have to kiss?"

"I don't know, that's just how it goes. You should hang it between the ball room and the main room so people will get caught under it easier."

"You want them to get caught?"

"Of course! That's half the fun."

"What's the other half?"

"The kiss." Dorothy hopped on a chair and gave Jack a quick peck on the cheek.

"But Dorothy, I can't kiss anyone. If I get caught under your mistletoe what will I do?"

"You don't_ have_ to Jack, It's just a fun tradition." Dorothy climbed off the chair and handed him the mistletoe to hang. They moved the chair over for Jack to stand on so he could hang the little plant.

Scraps felt a well of excitement build up in her chest "Where is everyone!?" she cried, rolling off the couch and hopping into a stand. "We need to celebrate how well we've done so far."

"So far," stated Jack, hesitantly "It truly depends on how the celebration goes. Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something, well, two things actually, who have you invited, and how do you expect them to get here?"

Scraps cartwheeled to his side and began explaining "However they wish to get here, that's not up to me. Who I invited? Well…Everyone of course!"

"Everyone?! What do you mean?"

"Well," she began counting on her fingers "I invited the royal family of Ev, Everyone we know, probably an entire town, Santa and the nome king!"

"King Kaliko I hope."

"Of course! Who else?"

"I'm just making sure…What time will the event take place?"

"Tomorrow evening."

"I hope you wrote that on the invitations. I don't remember you mentioning it when you had me write them."

Scraps frowned, suddenly realizing something "Oh…" she trailed off, sagging a bit before becoming chipper once more "I'll just go around and tell everyone when it is."

"But Scraps, don't you have to oversee all the other preparations for the party?"

"Oh posh, we have it handled perfectly fine. Decorations are set, food is set, as far as I know, and there's nothing else to do, is there!?" she called excitedly.

Jack tapped his chin "Well…from what I gathered from the book Dorothy and I went through we need music as well as gifts for friends if we chose to do so. We need decorations, which we have, food, which we have, activities for children, and something to keep everyone occupied." Jack looked to Scraps "Do we have all of those things?"

Scraps waved it off "Keeping children entertained is easy." She flipped back upon the couch

"You sing you dance

You can even prance

It's easy peasy

No need to get queasy"

She sang, before hopping off and heading to the door "Who's coming with me this time?" she asked, looking about the room for volunteers. Even the sawhorse did not want to leave the nice warm castle, and he couldn't even feel the cold. Scraps closed the doors, realizing no one wanted to come "Nobody?" she mumbled, looking around at all her friends. All the humans shook their heads "It's much too cold and getting colder. We haven't the appropriate clothes for such a trek" explained Button Bright.

Scraps frowned "You're all wimps," she complained "I can go out here with nothing but my scraps," She gestured Jack "Come on Jack, you're coming with me, and we're walking."

Jack did not object to this. He requested a moment to put on his winter attire before leaving, which Scraps gratefully granted.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to protect yourself with Scraps? You may start to feel the effects of the cold."

Scraps pointed to herself confidently "I'm not afraid of any cold. I'm made of quilt and cotton, I can't split or rot like you or the Sawhorse."

"You know that yet you still insist I come with you," Jack mumbled under his breath, unwilling, at the moment, to complain openly to his friend.

The two headed off into the gray, Scraps walking confidently ahead as her soft body slipped through the snow with only some resistance. Jack followed close behind, keeping a much slower pace as he kept his head turned down and body tucked, shielding himself from the cold.

"How far are we going?" he inquired, as they walked down the vacant city street.

"Just as far as I went!" Scraps called over her shoulder.

"And how far was that?"

"We will see when we reach it, I'll know it then."

Jack sighed, knowing he would not get a better answer out of the girl. For all he knew they'd travel all across Oz before they reached where Scraps had ended.

They knocked on every other door within the city. Scraps quickly informed the residence that the celebration she'd told them about earlier would take place tomorrow evening, and to inform everyone they knew about it. In the middle of their journey Jack intervened, just as she was about to tell another family to invite everyone they knew "Scraps," he called over her shoulder "Don't you believe we've told enough people to tell people? The castle is only so big and I would like to believe most people in the city already know each other. We should keep moving, or we'll get to everyone by the time the party has ended."

Scraps thought on the matter "I suppose you're right Jack," she called, then turning back to the woman at the door "Tell everyone you know!" she finished, then turning and taking her leave.

They left The Emerald City and made their way to the country where they stopped at many houses Scraps recognized from her earlier trek, and informed the residence that the celebration would take place tomorrow evening. Some had no clue to what he was referring, while others thanked her for telling them and told her they would attend if they could make it.

"This snow is so thick," said one munchkin woman "And I haven't any way but my feet to make the trek. It may be too cold, but I will come if I can."

As the pair moved on Jack voiced his thoughts concerning his friend's plans "Don't you believe it would be better to give yourself more time?" he inquired "You only started planning this two days ago. Wouldn't it be better to wait for a later date?"

Scraps seemed taken aback by the suggestion "Of course not!" she cried "In a few days the idea of this will become stale in my mind, and I don't want that. The planning is tedious and I don't want to deal with it for longer than I need to."

"But you need longer than you're giving yourself to plan it."

Scraps waved him off "Oh, I don't need any more time than this. Can't you see? This is going perfectly. I have only made one slip up so far and that is being rectified easily."

After a moment of silence Jack spoke again "Why did you insist on bringing me along?" he asked, looking down at his friend, still marching confidently beside him. Scraps looked up at him, slightly confused "Who wants to go on a journey alone?" she asked "Where's the fun in that? In this gray place, especially, I can barely skip and hop to entertain myself as I walk, so here you are. Have you ever gone on a journey alone? I think not."

"But you have, Scraps, don't you remember the time you ran away?"

"I do, but even then I was not alone. I had Popla with me for a majority of the journey, so I wasn't alone for quite some time…I will admit I did cause quite a commotion for that period."

"Yes, you lead us on quite the wild goose chase."

"You didn't have to come after me."

"I wanted to…It is my nature."

They did not speak much after that. The journey lasted a few more hours until the wind became too thick and they were forced to return to the castle. The snow flurried all around them, forcing Jack to keep his head low and covered. They could barely see an inch in front of them the snow was so thick. Jack held fast to Scraps' wrist to keep her from blowing away. She struggled with the wind, her feet flowing off the ground every few steps. Had Jack not been there she surly would have been blown to the edge of Oz or beyond.

"See Jack!" she called over the wind "I couldn't have gone alone, or you would have never seen me again!" she stated, then laughing immediately after.

The return took three times longer than the journey, with the wind calming only on occasion, and only for a few minutes at a time. By the time they returned to the castle it was late morning the next day, and preparations still had to be made for when the guests arrived.

As soon as the two entered Dorothy and Button Bright ran to them "We thought you'd get lost in the storm," called Dorothy, concern hovering in her eyes "The snow was blowing like crazy, we couldn't even see out the windows."

"We still can't." Button Bright pointed out.

Everyone went to look out a window "I hope it calms down by this evening," stated Dorothy, leaning on the sill "Or nobody will be able to come I'd think. They aren't used to this kind of weather out there. Everyone would either get lost or freeze if they left their houses now."

Scraps shrugged, shaking the snow off her shoulders "Then I suppose they'll come late," she said, walking away from the window "But they _will _come."

Jack watched as she walked away, her cloth body still covered in snow "Scraps," he called, gaining her attention "Don't you believe you should relieve yourself of snow? If it melts you'll be soaked, and if you're soaked you will be heavy and floppy."

Scraps looked down at herself for a moment before shaking off as if she were an animal "Better?" she asked, not waiting for an answer before heading into the kitchen to see how Jellia and the cooks were doing. Jellia, while unhappy with the set-up, told Scraps all was going well then sent her away.

The Patchwork girl returned to the sitting area and flopped down on the couch, board. She did not want to have to wait for the guests to arrive.

With every passing hour her patience grew thinner. It thinned into late morning, and made her restless in the afternoon. In the evening she stared out the window, still shielded by a white wall of snow being whisked around by relentless winds. After early evening passed she sighed, worried her celebration might be ruined by the same thing that brought the idea about.

Late evening came and still no one showed up. Scraps stared out the window until Button Bright invited her to play cards with him Dorothy and Jack. She agreed, stepping away from the window, and sitting at a table with her friends to play Old Maid.

For hours they played, until Button and Dorothy fell asleep. Jack and Scraps continued playing cards, now playing War since they only had two people.

"I'm sorry this did not work out the way you'd hoped." Said Jack, keeping an eye on his cards as he flipped one over and lost.

"They will come," Scraps assured "They could just be confused on the time of day. I have not seen the sun since the snow came, night and day look the same. I'm sure they will come tomorrow, or the next day even."

"By then it will be stale in your mind." Mumbled Jack, repeating what his friend had told him. Scraps had no time to reply. Right as she opened her mouth the doorbell rang.

The first guests had arrived.


End file.
